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THE 12 MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
(MICELT) 2018 – SHAPING NEW UNDERSTANDINGS IN ELT
LEARNING IN DIVERSITY:
INDONESIAN MULTICULTURAL CLASSROOM
Laela Hikmah Nurbatra
University of Muhammadiyah Malang, Indonesia
nurbatra@umm.ac.id
ABSTRACT
The main purpose of higher education is to prepare students in a multicultural society for a professional work
(Logvinova & Ivanova, 2016). Universities around the globe are on their way to support international atmosphere in
the campus. Some foreign lecturers involves in academic activities within or beyond the classroom. Moreover, with
the presence of International students enrolled in the university program, international atmosphere is existed in some
classes in the university. The program fosters multicultural education to be implemented in classes in the higher
education level. Given that there are challenges in the complexity of multicultural education (Sleeter, 2018), the
purpose of the study is to investigate student perspectives in a multicultural classroom with regard to multicultural
education. Further, it will identify and analyze difficulties in the practice of multicultural education which takes place
in a class with students from diverse nationalities, race, ethnic, religion, and culture. In doing so, the present study
will involve Indonesian, and Chinese students enrolled in English Department, University of Muhammadiyah Malang
who experienced multicultural classroom. Employing qualitative research design, the present study gathered the data
by conducting observation, distributing questionnaire and conducting a comprehensive semi-structured interview.
The results indicated that the challenges in the implementation of multicultural pedagogy cover four areas such as
language barrier, cultural differences, familiarity to certain topic, and teaching practice.
KEYWORDS: Multiculturalism, multicultural classroom, Indonesian students, Chinese Students, challenges
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Globalization has driven us to not only interact but also mingle in the current society with no
boundaries. It encourages people to live together, learn from each other, and exchange necessity to enrich
themselves (Chatzipanagiotou & Nikolaou, 2018). As a result, it is inevitable that people are forced to to
open themselves to cultural, educational, and geographical differences in this interdependence world.
Culture is defined as the same lifestyle of people who live together as a society (Wallerstein, 1990 in
Yildirim and Tezci, 2016). It indeed shapes the culture existed in certain countries. Indonesia which consists
of many different ethnic groups such as Jawa, Batak, Madura, Minang, Banjar, Makasar, Aceh, and Irian
have more than 250 ethnic languages spoken across the country (Hanurawan & Watenvorth, 1997). Along
with this, notion of multiculturalism existed when certain communities in the society have cultural diversity
resulted from different ethnical, geographical, educational or economical background (Yildirim & Tezci,
2016). It is a process which evolving and transforming continuously along with the social development
(Zhu, 2017). In Kowaluk’s perspective (2016), multiculturalism do not aims at uniformity, as it is grounded
by diversity. Multicultural education, consequently, is carried out to prepare future generations to have
positive attitudes towards the diversity. In Ragsdell’s view (2016), the inclusion of values, religion,
literature, beliefs, arts, and social skills shape positive educational environment and cultivate social
integration which affect students’ academic success. Multicultural education is also regarded as an open-
minded approach which recognise the important role of schools as the foundation to reinforce changes to
transform of societal paradigm that values diversity (Kowaluk, 2016).
The awareness of establishing strong international atmosphere has been one of the major concerns
of University of Muhammadiyah Malang (Nurbatra, 2017). Intensification of internationalization at the
University of Muhammadiyah Malang in recent years has transformed the university significantly. As a
part of internationalization process, enrolment of international students and employment of foreign lecturers
has precipitated multiculturalism within the institution. More classes become multicultural ones which urge
mechanism to facilitate the pedagogical approach. Hung and Hyun (2011 in Chuah and Singh, 2016)
indicated that internationalization in higher education system has improved the institution to be more
conducive and supportive. Accordingly, students, lecturers, policy makers and even administrators need to
be well informed about the implementation of the multicultural classroom.
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THE 12 MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
(MICELT) 2018 – SHAPING NEW UNDERSTANDINGS IN ELT
It is the responsibility of higher education to provide the knowledge of cultural values of their own
culture and teach the students to respect and embrace diverse cultures (Zorina, Vygodchikova, Gatin, &
Munira, 2016). The same notion also asserted by Lawyer (2018) who stated that higher education is the
place for future teachers are educated and trained together with other individuals from various background.
However, based on the preliminary study, some challenges occurred in the implementation of multicultural
classes. Ragsdell (2016) believed that increased multiculturalism may be seen as a challenge for institution
and international students. Along with that, the present study is expected to provide insights on the
challenges occurred in multicultural classroom conducted in UMM as an Indonesian Islamic private
university. The study is therefore expected to give adequate input to improve the implementation of
multicultural education within the institution.
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
Conflicts in racial, religious, communal or ethnic took place in different part of the world. In
Indonesian context, the conflict occurred is regarded as a threat to the state sovereignty and unity (Rohman
& Lessy, 2017). Religious conflict, for example, is part of ideological struggle which affect regional
security (An, 2016). Multicultural education, consequently, is seen as a powerful weapon to prevent and
eliminate this segregation. In the perspective of Ayami Nakaya (in Chang, Pak, & Sleeter, 2018) who
examined ethnic conflict in Indonesia, multicultural education has enabled inter-ethnic groups to recover
after conflict and understand each other. It is not about questioning who has the power over others, but it is
more about diversity management (Sleeter, 2018). It is not a process of culture immersion and assimilation
which may threatened particular culture.
Multicultural education indeed is an opportunity of learning from each other cultures. It was
established with human rights principles which cultivate democracy and social justice (Rohman & Lessy,
2017). In addition to that, Logvinova and Inavova (2016) also believes that multicultural education is the
solution to issues in training and education in a culturally diverse environment existed in many countries in
this era or modernity. It is in line with Bindhu’s statement (2016) that multicultural education is important
for future citizens to cultivate their active citizenship. One of the pioneers in multiculturalism, James Banks
(1999) in Tonbuloglu, Aslan and Aydin ((2016) regards multicultural education as a kind of education
which caters various background of students in terms of races, ethnicity, genders, and culture to be equally
succeeded.
There are different procedures in implementing multicultural education in the classroom. Alismail
(2016) suggested that multicultural education to be executed in three forms, such as conservative, liberal
and critical. In the conservative perspective, students were seen as global citizen. On the other hand, liberal
perspective sees multicultural education is about positive attitudes towards diversity. Lastly, critical
perspective in multicultural education is the one emphasizes on equality among culturally diverse society.
3.0 RESEARCH PURPOSE
The current research is intended to depict multicultural classroom as part of multicultural education
took place at University of Muhammadiyah Malang. In detail, the paper highlights the challenges faced by
the students in multicultural classroom in the perspective of Indonesian and Chinese students. Both group
of students were selected as they part of the multicultural classroom in the university. Three Indonesian
students were students of University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), while the three Chinese students
were students of Tongren University who had an exchange program at UMM. The selected research
subjects were students of UMM who studied at English Education Department, Faculty of Teacher Training
and Education within the university. They were second semester students at 2016/2017 academic year who
experienced multicultural education in some classes.
4.0 METHODOLOGY
The present research employed qualitative approach with case study design. Creswell (2012) stated
that case study is an intensive exploration of event, activity, process or individuals in an extensive data
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THE 12 MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
(MICELT) 2018 – SHAPING NEW UNDERSTANDINGS IN ELT
collection. In this research six students of Literal Listening Class were purposively recruited as the subjects.
The students involved in the research were consisted of three Indonesian and Chinese students. In order to
collect the data, the researcher was selected as the primary instrument as observer and the interviewer. The
secondary instrument were observation field note, questionnaire and interview guide. In accordance to that,
the data of the study were gathered by means of participant and non-participant observation and semi-
structured interviews. Observation was conducted with the purpose to identify the students’ challenges in
the multicultural classroom. Furthermore, interview is conducted in order to gain detail information on the
student perspective on challenges they faced in the multicultural classroom.
5.0 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Based on the result of observation and interview, the research reveals that there are challenges
occurred in multicultural classroom in Indonesian setting which are elaborated below.
5.1 Language barriers
There are language barriers in the multicultural classroom which covers two areas: English proficiency,
pronunciation, the use of native language,
5.1.1 Diverse English proficiency level
English proficiency which varies among students in multicultural class is one of significant
challenge in multicultural classroom. Based on the observation, some students were reluctant to speak and
interact with students with different cultural background. They prefer to sit close to the students with the
same nationality. The Chinese students prefer to stay with Chinese people, and most of Indonesian students
do the same way. In the case of Chinese students, a study reported that they prefer to be with the other
Chinese student because they do not want to atttact attention of others (Xiang, 2017). They will not sit with
students with different nationality unless the lecturer ask them to do so, or when there were no empty seat
left. When the researcher asked them about the seat preference, both group of students mentioned that
actually they did not mind to sit next to each other. In addition to that, when the students have to do group
work, some of them have difficulties in translating their ideas to English, which constraint the group
discussion.
This issue is mentioned by one of Indonesian student:
‘The hardest one for us to to do some group work is we need to translate our words with them,
because our English is not really fluent, so it’s hard for us to communicate.’
In multicultural education, discussion play important role as it not only about expressing opinion,
but also respecting others and solving problems (Julianda, Widiati, & Djatmika, 2018). Watkins, Lean and
Noble (2016) argued that English proficiency level shapes academic performance and social access in
multicultural classroom. As a result, language barriers encompass challenge in the verbal communication
among students within group work (Ragsdell, 2016).
However, although the Chinese international students face challenges in the communication, they
are still able to make friends with the local students in the classroom. The social interaction among them
may be affected by the level of English proficiency, but in the informal situation, the barriers can be
negotiated. Indeed, the social support from friends in the form of practical, informational, motional, social
companionships essential for international students (Chuah & Singh, 2016). In regards to this, Kowaluk
(2016) stated that culturally responsive classroom can be incorporated with relationship building as the
foundation. A research conducted in US in Relations Cultural Theory indicated the importance of
nonverbal cues in multicultural society to communicate (Dietz et al., 2017).
5.1.2 Pronunciation
Pronunciation is an issue in the multicultural classroom because the students from different culture
has different way to pronounce certain words. In the interview, the students mentioned that they have
difficulties in understanding their friend’s utterance. For example, one Indonesian student said that she
found difficulty to get the word “wear” in which what the Chinese student mean was “well’. The same
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THE 12 MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
(MICELT) 2018 – SHAPING NEW UNDERSTANDINGS IN ELT
problem also occurred when the Chinese students tried to talk to Indonesian ones, as they have difficulties
in identifying the words with strong Javanese accent which produced by Indonesian students. For example,
one of the Chinese student said that Indonesian people said thousand differently with their strong Javanese
accent. From the respondents’ statements, it is indicated that the power of language has been identified as
some international students in the class were confused with the inability to understand the language the
shared in the class. Similarly, the case was also found in the research conducted by Greene and Montilla
(2016) which revealed international students felt vulnerable, confused, helpless and even paranoid when
they could not understand Hungarian language in the multicultural classroom.
This issue is important in academic context, as the students were expected to produce accurate
English pronunciation. However, when it comes to practice, three respondents confirmed that they were
less anxious about the pronunciation errors produced by their foreign classmates. The same result was also
reported in a research conducted in Russian setting which mentioned that most of students experienced
communication problem did not find significant problem in pronunciation since the other students
understood them well (Zorina et al., 2016).
5.1.3 The use of native language
Alismail (2016) challenge teachers’ skill to blend students with different cultures in the classroom.
In the multicultural classroom, students and teachers are expected to use English in their classroom
interaction. However, based on the result of interview, it is indicated that some students and teachers use
Bahasa Indonesia in classroom interaction. Some lecturers intentionally use Bahasa Indonesia because they
teach pedagogical subject in Bahasa Indonesia in the university. In Kowaluk’s view (2016), when the
teachers are not sensitive to cultural diversities take place in multicultural classroom, the students may not
perform at their best. Although the lecturers tried to use English, the International students still find
difficulties in comprehending the materials as the coursebook is written in Bahasa Indonesia. The same
phenomenon also occurred in US educational setting that some students felt that they were cultural minority
when they could not speak the local language (Dietz et al., 2017).
Therefore, the teacher suggested foreign students to ask other students to assist the learning process. Indeed,
teacher nowadays are required not only to be competent and professional, but also respectful ones
(Logvinova & Ivanova, 2016). He pointed out that teaching the minority students required the teachers to
be aware of the cultural characteristic prior to teaching. A research conducted in Yu and Zhang (2016) who
investigate multicultural education implementation in China reveals that the certain culture might be
marginalised over other stronger culture which existed in the host institution. It supports Hanurawan and
Waterworth’s argument (1997) that it is not possible to have cultural ‘purity’ or distinctiveness within a
multicultural society. In regards to this, Kowaluk (2016) who did the research in Canadian context, stated
that the agent of change and the front line role models to promote equality and social justice in education.
So in this case, teachers are the role that inspire students to positively embrace multiculturalism.
The present research also found out that some students also participate in class discussion using
Bahasa Indonesia which restraint the other students’ understanding. One Indonesian students said that it
was too complicated for them to speak in English all the time in the class. The Indonesian student said that
they sometimes switch to Bahasa Indonesia when they talk to their Indonesian peers. In the observation,
the Chinese students also did the same thing that they prefer to use Chinese language when they talked to
their peers. They did is as they have common understanding (Xiang, 2017). When the students with diverse
cultural background need to involve in group discussion, they were then inevitably demanded to use
English. Group discussion as an effective strategies is the opportunity to practice and improve skills and
knowledge (Nadda, 2017).
5.2 Familiarity of certain topics
One advantage of having multicultural classroom is the students can exchange opinion in different
perspectives. However, some students may not familiar with certain topics in certain culture. This issue is
identified when the students and the lecturer discussed about religion. Indonesian students enrolled in
University of Muhammadiyah Malang are accustomed to be familiar with Islam as a religion. On the other
hand, Chinese students are not familiar with the concept of religion, particularly Islam. In the observation
when the class had a discussion about Muhammad, prophet of Islam, Chinese students could not express
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